A Blood Memory
by TDsamo
Summary: In the four years between the series and this story, Jim acquired a scar dangerously close to his heart. It actually happens this chapter(and quite bloodily), so CLICK!(chp. 6)
1. Setting

Title: Er... It's bad, I'll change it (but i'll warn you first!)  
  
Rating: Erm... PG-13? Some swearing, violence  
  
Premise: Four years later, their lives are relatively normal, but bad memories can linger for a long time. Jim angst- WAI!!   
  
A/N: Wow, you actually clicked? THANK YOU!! Now, before you think this is a Mary Sue (and I s'pose it looks that way, what with the first words of the second paragraph being "The girl") I have to tell you- it's NOT! This is just the easiest way to present the story, rather than just telling it as a random memory. Ok. Right. On with it, before the A/N becomes longer than the actual, ridiculously short chapter. ^.^;  
  
^^^^^  
  
This summer had been a hot one, almost dangerously so. Grass yellowed and grew stiff, reaching upwards like paper knives to the unforgiving star that gave this place chance life. The streets were nearly empty of people, even in the cities, and the few that were out tended to mingle towards bars, restaurants, and any other places with air conditioning. There was one person who did not, making her way along the baking sidewalk with some sense of purpose other than to relieve the dust in her throat.  
  
The girl had dark, shoulder length hair and mauve eyes. She was a bit skinnier than average, but not unhealthily so. She was not beautiful, and she was not ugly or plain. She stopped her unhurried pace along the sidewalk and pulled a couple of folded papers out of a pocket. She brushed back a flyaway strand of hair from her face as she scanned the e-mail again. She looked up and began to walk again, presently turning a corner and finding herself before a large building. The words on the building matched those on the second sheet she held in her hand: Starwind and Hawking Enterprises.  
  
^^^^^  
  
Please review! Next chapter soon- I just need to iron some more out. 


	2. Characters

Title: Oh, I dunno... help me out here, willya? Suggestions? Anyone??? Need... muse...  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Forgot this last time... I don't own OLS (except for Jim). No seriously, don't sue me or I *will* bite you.  
  
Premise: Oh... you don't care. Just read, k?  
  
A/N: Yes. The last chapter was boring, and this one won't be much better... But it is longer! Uh...much longer... ^.^; Just bear with me, it starts getting good next chapter, and this one sets it up with some background info. Just review and tell me how it is, please? PLEASE?! *puppy eyes* 6.6  
  
*****  
  
She walked to the right of the building, past the metal garage door to an alleyway. There, in the side of the building, was another doorway. The doorknob clicked open when she tried it, and she walked into what appeared to be an indoor junk heap, filled with discarded mechanical parts and a decrepit old tractor.  
  
"Mr. Hawking? Hello?" The e-mail had informed her to inquire about the job opening in the repair shop/garage, where the Hawking of the "company" spent most of his time. He and Gene had posted job ads, needing help to raise money for their next excursion into space, the last of which they had returned from not quite a month ago. At this time, about noon, the residence-slash-office was quiet. Aisha was working with Clyde at the bar, though it was unsure how long she would keep that job; she could hardly stand Iris. Suzuka was rarely present at any time, prefering to do her business privately and independently. She split her "paycheck" with the others, quickly quieting any initial thoughts of complaint. Gene had been browsing for bounties, which had now become a regular job for him when he wasn't tracking them down. When the girl entered the garage, he and Melfina, who spent most of her time at home base, had gone out yet again. They had grown very close and were openly affectionate. For Gene, there was more than one reason to save up his money.   
  
As hot as it was outside, the temperature in the shop was stifling. Even the occasional draft of cooler air through a door connecting to the living area of the place offered little relief. The girl, not receiving any answer but a slight, irregular clanking sound coming from near the tractor, repeated herself.  
  
"Mr. Hawking? M-"  
  
"Just a minute!" The clanking gave way to a low, screechy, grinding sound, followed by a louder clank and a muffled "ow!" The girl made her way through the spare parts and grease to where she had heard the voice. As she approached from the back end of the tractor, she spied a pair of booted feet poking out from under it.  
  
"Are you-" A blonde boy with an undeniably cute baby-face scooted out from under the machine. He waved a hand to cool off a newly swollen red finger, resisting the instinctual temptation to suck on the grimy digit. The girl's face flushed slightly as she caught sight of his shirtless torso, slightly car-greasy.  
  
"Jim Hawking. You here by appointment?" He had a friendly, disarming voice, mild and not much deepened yet by the horrors of male puberty. She was about to reply as he stood up, but was distracted by a conspicuously placed scar, a short but deep red dash across the near center of his leanly built chest.   
  
"Ah... no. I'm here about a job." She dug the ad out of her pocket and unfolded it. He glanced at it.  
  
"Oh yeah... You were the first one to reply. What's your name again?" Jim turned a few steps back to a rusty and decidedly unsafe looking faucet. He turned the handle and water squirted out sporadically before settling into a regular rhythm.   
  
"Asahi Tenrou. I-" She paused and stared as she saw a mirror of the scar she had seen before on his back, seemingly on the exact opposite side as the other. "I hope I'm not bothering you." Jim placed his injured pinky under the stream of water, then splashed his face. He grabbed a towel and dried his face and hands before replying.  
  
"Nah. I was gonna take a break anyways." He pulled on a white, slightly grease-stained sleeveless t-shirt and flicked a damp strand of hair out of his line of vision. It immediately returned to its former position. "Wanna come inside and get something to drink?"  
  
"Sure." She followed behind him into the cool relief of that wonderful invention known as air conditioning.  
  
*****  
  
A glass of lemonade clinked down on the table, leaving a ring of condensation around its base. Ice danced as Jim continued the job interview.  
  
"Favorite movie?"  
  
"Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- 2003."  
  
"You go for old-school crappy effects like that?"  
  
"I go for the plot. And the elves." Jim grinned. "What about you?"  
  
"Mm... I'd have to say... 007...um, I can't remember. It's like the 58th one. Pretty old."  
  
"58? The Past Never Dies?"  
  
"That's it. Er..." He looked upward and scratched his head. "Well." He clapped a folder shut as Asahi drank the last of her lemonade. "I guess that concludes the interview. I'll need to figure out some hours for you- any time is ok, right?" She nodded. "I'll call you tomorrow morning, 'k?"  
  
"Sure. Thanks for the lemonade." She stood. "Bye."  
  
"Ciao." He waved as she left and sat back in his chair with a smile. He relaxed there for a minute before getting up to put the glasses in the sink. He'd better be getting back to work.  
  
*****  
  
A/N: Better? Eh? Review please! I know it's been kinda boring, but the action and angst'll start up next chapter, I promise(and it'll probly be even longer-or i might revise this one later on)! Stupid ff.n... keeps screwing up.... ^.^; Bai's! 


	3. Plot

Title: Er... should I keep the one I have? I can't think of anything better.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Warnings: Swearing! the a-word and *gasp* the f-word!! (it's blanked-only say it in your head if you are mature enough to take it!^.^;)  
  
Premise: If you want a lot of angst and don't care about the story, just wait. You'll like the next two chapters :)  
  
A/N: I think that a little angst'll start up this chapter... watch for it, it's coming! ^.^ *gasp* YAY! Flashbacks!!   
  
~~~~~~  
  
In the few weeks after being hired by Jim and Gene, both Asahi's friendship with them and her curiousity about the scar had grown. She spent much time helping Melfina with chores, groceries and cooking, and had for a while been debating whether or not she should ask her about the mark. Finally, in mid August, she simply couldn't stand it anymore. As the weather almost imperceptibly cooled, she sat down to lunch with Mel after coming in to work for the day.  
  
"Where's Jim?" Asahi wasn't sure if he would like the subject to be brought up, no matter how cheerful and lighthearted he seemed. The memory would probably be a painful one, but Asahi had no idea how much so.  
  
"He's out for the afternoon with Gene. They caught a lead on a pretty big bounty, so Jim decided he should go along. Gene isn't so reckless as he used to be, but you can tell he's still cocky." Melfina smiled as she spoke of him, unwittingly letting know that she was hopeless head over heels for him, and he for her. She turned her head towards the window and rested her chin upon her folded hands.  
  
"I see." Asahi paused and looked at her hands, folded on her lap. She twiddled her thumbs. "Ah..." Melfina turned her soft gaze from the window to the girl. There was a feeling of deep intuition from her, and for a moment Asahi thought that she had already betrayed her question to this perceptive woman.   
  
"I was..." She took a deep breath. Although she felt like she had known these people for a long time, and although she was treated more like a friend who helped out than an employee, she knew that she had only been hired a few weeks ago. She felt she was prying, but she was so curious. "When I first met Jim, I noticed a scar on his chest, and... on his back." She meant to ask where they had come from, but she felt she couldn't go on. Melfina smiled slightly, sadly.  
  
"I know what you're talking about. It's alright, it was several years ago. Three, I believe, when he was twelve. It was... very bad, but wounds heal. Both the physical and the inner. You don't have to feel like you're prying." She sat back and looked up at the ceiling as quietly Asahi sighed in relief. "I don't know all of it firsthand. You'd have to ask Jim or Gene, for I never got the full story. I can, however, tell you how it began. Jim and Gene used to argue quite a bit, and quite... spiritedly, you might say. After our initial budget-breaking venture into space -which I will have to tell you about some other time, when we have many free hours- their confrontations began to worsen. I wish I could say that I had done nothing to help these along, but that would be lying. Our... relationship was just beginning to assert itself back then, and we may have spent more time out than was necessary. It might not have happened if not for that, but it's too late to change it, and by now we have come out none the worse for it." She quieted as Asahi leaned forward, intrigued. Melfina took a sip of her tea. The pause was so long that Asahi began to think that that was all, but it was far from over.  
  
"I remember the day very well. It was not too far a date from this one, in the late summer. It had rained the night before and looked as if it might again. There was an electricity in the air, a tension. It was a bad fight, and I did nothing to stop it. I never did; they always resolved it themselves as best as could be expected. Ah... I wish I'd stopped them, but I suppose there was nothing I could have done." She paused again, and what she said next seemed almost to be off the topic. "Jim had gotten very little sleep the night before that day- for many nights."  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Twelve year-old Jim Hawking ran a hand through his dark blonde hair. He obviously needed it cut, but there was just no time or money. He laughed inwardly as he rubbed his eyes, as if enough friction would erase the darkness under them. That was sad. No money for a 5-woolong haircut. He left his hands on his face, propping his head up that his tired eyes might stare a little longer at the computer. Oh, God, it didn't matter. He couldn't see what the hell it said through his blurry vision anyways. Where was his aniki? Oh that's right- he was still asleep after clubbing or checking out bars or whatever the f--- he and Melfina got up to. Jim had still been awake when the idiot had stumbled in, half-supported by Melfina at 4.30 a.m. Melfina... he couldn't understand why she didn't do anything about it. She definitely wasn't happy with what he did, though she obviously loved him. Why couldn't she just talk to him? Whenever Jim tried to, they just got into another fight. It was so pointless.  
  
Jim felt himself beginning to give up on finances and as he slowly and unconsciously let his head sink down to the keyboard. There were too many holes in the math and it didn't add up. Obviously the cause of it was his aniki, but the "man" refused to take responsibility. Suzuka was never around to talk or beat some sense into either of them; she was off on a personal expedition, and would probably not return for another week. Aisha was almost as bad as Gene, when she was around, but at least she showed she cared about Jim, even if that didn't much help her behavior. The genius's already muddled thoughts began to melt into the nonsense that fills the mind just before dozing off. Too tired to fight it, he relaxed into it. He needed a nap, at least. He deserved one.  
  
He was almost asleep when Gene decided to wake up.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
A/N: Ok, if you didn't like the first, second, or this chapter because there wasn't enough (as in about none) angst, then just stick around for the fourth. There is a fight coming. A big fight. A HUGE fight. A MELEE, like you see on SS Bros. (well, maybe not that big). Really, though, I've been planning this out for a while- it'll be good!...Bad. Angry. Er... REVIEW! Please! It's the only food source I have! One nacho for every review- salsa included if it's signed! I'm hungry, people! 


	4. Conflict

Title: I guess I'll keep it, then...  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Warnings: Swearing! And meanness! Ah, quarrelsome... ^.^  
  
Premise: Here it comes!! FIGHTFIGHTFIGHT!! Aww... Jim...  
  
A/N: Angst!! And even MORE next chapter! And SORRY about the delay. I've been really busy, and for once that's not just a baseless excuse for lack of creativity! (actually, I've been busy *and* I just got the new Zelda game back, which was confiscated and literally locked away for undisclosed reasons ^.^;)  
  
%%%%%  
  
Jim started as Gene's heavy footsteps announced his passage down the stairs. The hacker did his best to banish the grogginess from his muddled mind, suppressing a groan as he did so. He focused on the staircase. At least the man had managed to pull some pants on this time. It was impossible to keep the sarcasm from his voice as Jim greeted his partner.  
  
"Good morning, aniki." Gene stopped scratching his head long enough to register the words. He looked at the clock and grinned lopsidedly, frustratingly slowly.  
  
"Mm... You're such a kidder, Jim." The digital clock read 12:48, and the PM light was on.  
  
"At least you're up before 1:00 today, you lazy ass." Gene seemed to disregard or not hear the last part of that statement and snickered dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, well, I didn't stay out too late last night." He was completely unaware of how dangerously close to a fight they already were. He looked around. "Need my caffiene... Where'za kitchen again...?" He teetered off in the direction of the sound of Melfina cooking. She was making lunch, but also had a pot of coffee ready for Gene.  
  
"God, aniki, you do the same thing everyday." Gene didn't even slow down. "Aniki. Aniki!" Finally he stopped and turned around.   
  
"Hey, calm down, I just like to have fun. You should try it some time." At this, Jim began to lose it.  
  
"I'm serious! You never help out anymore- you barely ever have! All you do is party, drink, and sleep. And when you are here, all you do is fawn all over Melfina." At this last statement, Gene began to grow angry, as well. Melfina had been about to call out to him, but stopped as she heard the sharp tone in his voice.  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about. You're just a little kid."  
  
"Am I? Little kids play all day. Little kids don't come home until they're too tired to walk. Little kids don't do all the work, day and night- they let the adults do it!" Jim now had all of Gene's attention focused on him, but the redhead still didn't notice how spent and at the end of his tolerance he really was. Neither did he notice his own lack of patience, his lack of sleep(though not so extreme as Jim's) finally taking its toll.  
  
Melfina, listening from a room away, began to worry. She knew this was probably just another fight, like they always had, but she hated it. She felt it was partly her fault for letting things slide. Of course, she had tried to talk to Gene occasionally, but he always avoided the subject and managed to evade its discussion. The conflicts had been steadily growing more aggressive, and she was afraid of what migt happen if the intesity continued to escalate. As she stood there, listening to them argue, she decided she should try to stop it. Gene had to listen. Even if all she could was distract him, she couldn't let this go on. She was just working herself up to interfere when it all went wrong.  
  
"You little... Yeah, sure, you say you do so much, but when's the last time you came up with a good job? Huh? Tell me that." He turned to leave, but Jim's voice shocked him out of the halfway-done action. The boy couldn't take anymore.  
  
"That is not my fault, Gene Starwind!" He was yelling now, even though it was hard to speak and hurt to raise his voice at all. Gene's eyes widened. He had not heard Jim call him by his full name for years.   
  
Jim had actually scared himself by speaking his partner's name. It seemed a symbol of rejection, the harshest and closest cutting insult he could use. His throat felt dry, and he almost said something like to an apology. He didn't get a chance.   
  
Melfina quietly looked through the doorway, curious and frightened, and saw something happen that she never thought she would see.  
  
Gene spun around, took a step towards Jim, and hit him.  
  
Everything seemed to stop as the man stared at Jim, knocked to the floor by the force of the blow. Jim stared back, eyes round in disbelief. Gene was appalled by his action, but felt paralyzed, unable to acknowledge that what he had just done was real, had actually happened.. Melfina held a hand to her mouth and didn't notice as a tear slid unbidden down her cheek to pool on the side of her palm. Gene's throat worked as he tried to make himself say something, but he remained silent as Jim got to his feet and walked out the door.  
  
Gene held his head in his hands, concealing his face, and quietly went back upstairs.  
  
%%%%%  
  
Melfina's voice suddenly stopped as she looked past Asahi. The girl turned and her eyes were met by Jim's, wide and sad with memory. He had returned without them noticing, and who knew how long he had been listening.  
  
"Jim- I..." Melfina didn't know what to say as he turned up the stairs. Asahi whirled around to Mel.  
  
%%%%%  
  
A/N: Yeah, so this wasn't too bad... This and the next chapter are just emotional/mental angst, but for those fans of blood, er... you won't be disappointed. Oh... I'M SORRY JIM! I love you, really!   
  
...and again I am doing this instead of working on homework like a good little girl would be doing... 


	5. Foreshadowing

Title: A Blood Memory -- Foreshadowing  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Warnings: Just angst, this time.  
  
A/N: Know what? No? I don't either.  
Thank you, thank you, thank you for reviewing! I was just about to give up hope (though I still would have finished the story). Especially thanks to Illusen Mirour for replying about the title.  
The angst really does start in this chapter. sorry it took so long to update this, and for it being like that for the last couple chapters(I think). I don't usually force myself to write, cuz it'll end up like crap if I do. I have to wait until the "writing mood" strikes, and this time it just happened to be at 12:18 am. how pleasant.   
Btw, I'm listening to moby and… enya… as I write, so this may turn out a little weird… ^.~  
  
`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
Asahi found that she could not sleep soundly that night. She felt terrible, guilty for prying and for making Melfina remember those things. When she woke from the little sleep she had gotten, she dreaded facing Jim but knew she had to. She wasn't one to shirk her duties or lie her way out of an uncomfortable situation. She forced herself up and dressed, but could not bring herself to eat. As she stepped out of her apartment, she thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but the fair walk to Starwind and Hawking Enterprises gave her plenty of time to fabricate all kinds of bad situations. Maybe he would fire her, or ignore her. He could be angry, or worse, too upset to face her. No. he wouldn't be that bad. He was the type to always get up again after stumbling, was also curious and would not blame someone for sharing that trait.  
  
Before she knew it, she had arrived. She took a deep breath and stepped in.  
  
Gene looked up from a cup of coffee and waved to her, attempting a cheery smile that was almost painful to look at. She knew he didn't know anything about the happenings the night before, and simply wasn't a morning person, or, more realistically, an early afternoon person. At least he tried.  
  
"Good morning, Gene." She bowed and he nodded back before turning to stare at the wall again, fingering the course stubble on his chin that he had yet to shave off that day. Asahi walked to the garage door and twisted the knob and entered cautiously, looking about. Melfina looked around the corner, wiping her hands on a towel. She watched Asahi worriedly, knowing that Jim would soon be back from picking up several mechanical parts.  
  
`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
Asahi stiffened, pausing in the middle of checking off paperwork when she heard the outside doorknob click. Her head whirled as Jim came in, balancing several boxes.   
  
"Good morning, Jim." He nodded. His hair shadowed his eyes, which looked away from the girl, avoiding her apprehensive gaze. Normally, she would have been quick to help him with the boxes, but there was a tension in the air that stopped her. Jim set down the boxes and began unloading them, checking off a list on a clipboard as he examined their contents. Asahi hesitantly went back to the papers, and the two worked in silence for a time. Unseen, Jim gently touched his scar through the cotton of his shirt. It no longer hurt, at least not often and only faintly when it did, but it seemed to him a sort of reminder. He looked up through his dark blonde bangs. He needed a haircut. Again.  
  
It wasn't quite sudden, but unexpected, when the two finally finished their work and their eyes met. Asahi almost looked away, but Jim's voice, quiet, stopped her.  
  
"Have you eaten?" The question surprised her, but she did not pause overlong before answering.  
  
"No." He got up and brushed his hands off.  
  
"Neither have I. Let's go get something." She stared, then quietly set her pen down and followed Jim out of the garage to his car.   
  
`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
"Gene?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"They left, you know, a little bit ago."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Gene."  
  
"Yes. I know about it. They'll be fine."  
  
`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
Neither spoke for a while as Jim seemed to concentrate on the road, while Asahi looked off to the side, watching buildings fly by, occasionally stopping as they hit a red light. Eventually, they came to a small restaurant, where Jim ordered a couple of bento boxes, one with tempura and the other with noodles, and cans of tea. Asahi recalled telling him that her favorite food was vegetable tempura with prawns. As they exited, he told her he would drive them to a good place to relax and eat. She nodded and held both boxes in her lap. They were quiet again for a while as the buildings melted away into residential areas, and then fields. The wind tugged at their hair, blending it at the edges with the blue sky like a watercolor painting when Jim broke the silence.  
  
"You could have asked." The tone of his voice was not accusatory, and the girl suddenly felt very stupid as she stared at the cheap boxes in her lap. She could feel the warmth of the hot food on her knees, and smelled it even as the wind tried to wrest it away.  
  
"I'm sorry." He sighed deeply, not exasperated but tired, and Asahi was struck by the notion that he might have had a bad night as well.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Asahi hadn't noticed them turn onto a rougher road, and Jim slowly pulled to a stop at a very uninhabited-looking scene, despite the few decrepit old buildings. She thought that they might be houses. She heard a faint rushing sound and, looking out past a few trees, spied what looked like a place where the ground fell away. Seeing where her gaze fell, Jim clarified.  
  
"River. Deep one." He pulled the keys out of the engine and Ehefrau quieted. "It's in a sort of a little gorge here." He got out, and Asahi followed him to a clear patch of ground where the dust seemed to be packed almost into sandstone. There they sat, and began to eat. The tension began to fade, but Asahi seemed almost able to feel Jim's memories as they moved through his head. They were painful, but he had learned to bear them. He finished before his friend, and brought his knees up as he looked off towards the river. He waited for her to empty her box.  
  
"Would you like to know the rest?" She looked up at him, startled, and he smiled sadly, faintly.  
  
"I…" His expression reassured her, and she spoke honestly. "If it… If it's all right."  
  
"Yeah. I haven't thought of it much in a long time, and it's good to remember things like this," he again brushed the place in his clothing over the scar, "even though it may hurt. When I left, Melfina told me that Gene locked himself in his room and wouldn't talk to her. When he came out, several hours later, she knew he had been drinking- not enough to be real stupid or drunk, just enough to numb himself and his reactions- and found that he had been looking up bounties. I guess… he needed to vent. Somehow. Something like that." He paused. "He left, and I was still gone. I can't remember how long it was that I drove, but I ended up in a park. When I got there, I… I didn't hold back. I couldn't anymore."  
  
`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
His vision was blurred worse than he could ever remember it being, and his face was hot from shame and tears and the sting of the blow on his swollen cheek. He was huddled in the corner of a wall, the shadows from dark blue-gray clouds above obscuring his small figure as he sat in the empty place. Jim figured the only good side was that the dryness in his eyes, so extreme that it hurt at times, was finally being relieved.  
  
He stared through the rain-like distortion in his eyes at a fountain. He cough-hiccuped involuntarily and thought briefly of Hanmyo, whom he had known for such a short time, who he could have known for the rest of his life. Hanmyo, who didn't really care enough to see him again.  
  
It was no small mercy that he never knew the truth.  
  
The boy struggled, fought against the self-pity that disgusted him as it threatened to overtake and overcome him. As he beat it away, he felt his cheek twinge, and his thoughts turned to Gene and to what had happened. Had it happened? He raised his hand and brushed fingers against his reddened face, wincing as the tips barely touched his skin. He almost couldn't see it in his memory, yet there it was again, and again. It replayed against his will, and the tears came down harder as the grief and pain, more emotional than physical, swallowed him. He cried, sobbed like the child he could never admit he still was until the tears became something like dry heaves and he found he could breathe again. It did not rain, and Jim held his head down, pulling his hair, trying to hide from the mockingly water-filled clouds that seemed to consciously refuse to shed their own tears. In his daze he felt utterly alone, still barely believing that his aniki could have done that, that he himself could have said that name. It seemed equal to the greatest blasphemy, and he hated himself in those moments for his unintentional melodrama.  
  
He hugged himself tightly and shook as the world grew colder.  
  
He did not know how he managed it, but he slept there, alone among the stone and pavement and his own disbelieving sorrow.  
  
`~`~`~`~`~`  
  
A/N: Woah… I could've gone a little farther with it, even, but that's… pretty long, actually. *proceeds to be proud of herself* The ideas for this part kind of flow right into the next chapter, so it shouldn't take too long (it's probly gonna take a while) SHUT UP, parentheses. Nobody likes you. Er… Hey, gimme a break, it's almost 2 am. The next chapter will be the Climax, titled Climax (in a completely non-sexual kind of way) SILENCE, foolish and unwanted pieces of punctuation! Arr… I'll post this tomorrow- after X2!  
…good night… *topples into slumber* 


	6. Climax

Title: A Blood Memory -- Climax  
  
Rating: Hard PG-13, maybe R...  
  
Warnings: Mucho angst, lotsa blood, and, of course, swearing ^.^  
  
A/N: Before I say anything else, I have a public service announcement:   
GO SEE X-MEN 2!! Holy HELL! That movies rocks! It's awesome! It's actiony! It's trippy! And furthermore:  
NIGHTCRAWLER IS A SWIFTMEISTER! THAT MEANS HE IS A BEING OF PURE SWIFTYNESS! THAT MEANS GO SEE HIM NOW! HE'S RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING, SO DON'T GET TO THE THEATRE LATE! *pantpant* and that preview for 28 days later looked pretty shweet too... anyways-  
  
MidnightLoner- "aniki" is what Jim call Gene in the original Japanese version. It's translated as "older brother" or "mentor." And... this chapter is considerably worse(bloody) than the last one- just a warning.  
  
I hope I didn't try through all those chapters that hard to work people up for nothing...Oh well, I'll probably end up rewriting this sometime anyways. Here goes my first attempt at violent angst- wish me luck! ^.^;  
  
====  
  
When Jim woke, the clouds were giving way to a dimming orange sun. He felt terrible, physically and inwardly, as he recalled what had happened. The dryness was back in his eyes, his throat and his heart. He pulled himself to his feet, leaning against the brick wall for support, and made his way back to his car, which suddenly didn't seem to be worth so much. He opened the door, fairly crawled in, and sat, not even touching the wheel. How could he go back?  
  
He wouldn't. So where? He felt something terrible in his stomach, deep within, an ill sensation that he likened to how he had felt the day before he'd gotten deathly ill. That had been years ago, soon after he had met...  
  
His thoughts trailed off, and a ringing filled his head. Things were not right, nothing was today. He felt afraid, terrified that he and... his aniki, not Gene, aniki. He was afraid that they would never feel right again when they were near each other. His teeth gritted together painfully, but he did not notice it. His head swam as he squeezed his eyes shut, and the sun turned darker. Unexpectedly, he slammed his fist down on the wheel, narrowly missing the horn, and bowed his head in frustration.  
  
====  
  
A bounty? On her? She felt flattered as she fingered the handle of her katana. No one had ever noticed her before, before she had publicly killed. That had been a mistake, the only time she was caught in the act (though she had easily escaped), and so she was underestimated. It was a small bounty, not worth risking your life over. They didn't know that, though. She wondered if anyone would even bother to hunt her.   
  
She watched the water rush by. It was deep.  
  
====  
  
Gene had taken the spare car, a fair piece of crap. He kept himself from thinking of how he usually got around when not walking, did not think that maybe he would need backup. He was still furious at Jim and himself, and deeply regretted what he had done. Had he been wrong the whole time?  
  
No. he consciously stopped that train of thought and concentrated on what information he had found. It hadn't been hard to find the files on the assassin, had been almost insultingly easy to learn where to find her. It wasn't far out of the city, either. This would be easy, and it was just what he needed, though he was a little sorry to have left Melfina so worried. But he could sort the rest out later. Now he just had to think of fighting, something real and direct, something he excelled at.  
  
His gloved hand searched beside him for his caster, and he cursed when he remembered that Jim had been cleaning it for him not long ago. Too late to get it now. Not that that he needed it, he figured. His regular gun would be fine, and he was good enough at hand-to-hand combat if he somehow lost it.  
  
The sun turned redder as Gene drove on, and the town slowly became country. It wasn't much longer, a little after he had passed a farm where he once had fought one of the Kei pirates. He ignored the memory and turned down a dusty road. He stopped a little ways away from where the info had said the bounty could be found. He got out and closed the door behind himself, careful not to slam it, and his confidence seemed even more assured as he walked toward the scene. He viewed the area methodically, taking careful note of every potential coverspace or trap as he always did. He made his way to the field before the buildings and sparse trees, and there he called out her name.  
  
"Nikita!" The leaves of trees rustled as wind sprung up, seeming to try to push Gene away. "Nikita Blade!"  
  
====  
  
She amused herself by listening to him shouting her name, calling for her to come out and poking around. When he finally fell silent, she began to edge towards him. She waited, hidden in the long shadows of her "house," for him to turn and walk away. He did. Immediately, she abandoned her hiding place and trotted silently towards him. She was mere yards from the man when she drew her blade and lunged.  
  
====  
  
Jim wasn't quite sure where he was going now. It seemed to be in the general direction of his home at first, but soon his course had turned. As he drove, wondering what the hell he was doing, he remembered a set of directions. He wasn't sure where he had heard them, but could see no reason to not cater to a whim and follow the directions.   
  
It might have been an unfortunate twist of fate, or maybe a necessary turn of events to waylay a worse fate, that the directions were part of a set of information he had acquired while researching a bounty.  
  
====  
  
The only warning Gene had was the metallic "shing" the sword made as it was drawn. He whirled, looked up, and met burnt orange eyes. Her loose sleeves flapped as she brought the blade stabbing down from behind her head. She missed Gene as he yelled in surprise and ducked away, shedding his pinned cloak. He retreated to a safe distance as the woman pulled her sword, half-buried from the force of the blow, out of the dirt. She swung it around, holding it out parallel to the ground and shrugging her fiery hair from her face. Gene hid his unsettlement at being attacked so swiftly and quietly beneath a cocky smirk.  
  
"So, you wait 'til my back's turned, huh?" He looks down at her, for she is lacking in stature and his chin is arrogantly tipped up. She makes no reply except a wicked, half-sided smile. A half-moment later, she attacked again, running the sword directly at him. He turned aside, but she was already whirling around, slicing towards his torso, and he barely jumped out of the way. She came forward again, cutting up and then down, and Gene's smile was wiped away as he wondered, had he misjudged her because of the bounty? How reliable was it? She whipped her sword around again once more, and Gene had no time to duck or dodge. He gritted his teeth and Nikita frowned at the sharp clang her katana made as it hit Gene's black knife. He turned her blade aside, quickly, and slashed at her. He almost hit her, instead barely nicking a fold of cloth. She stepped back and studied him, breathing evenly. Gene was winded, but did the same. He was sure now that, once he was done with this, he was going to maim the person who put up the misleading bounty. Severely.  
  
Nikita raised her sword, and Gene transferred his knife to his left hand, drawing his gun with the other. He shot, but she was already ducking under and coming at him again. Again, he raised his knife to turn her aside and fired once more, but missed, and she had changed the target. Seeing the cutting edge coming towards his wrist like a bird of prey, he dropped the gun and activated his light-shield, and the katana was repelled. Nikita was surprised only for a moment as the shock ran up her arm, but she switched hands and shook out her arm calmly, and cut, one-handed towards Gene. Her aim was to get him out of reach of his gun, which she kicked towards the woods. It flew all the way, revealing the spring-coiled muscles she hid beneath a slight, almost childlike physique. Now, she thought as he succumbed to her aims. She raised her sword for a death stroke, but stopped. She coughed and stumbled back from Gene's booted foot, which had caught her hard in the gut.  
  
====  
  
Jim was not expecting to find Gene's spare car on the side of the road. What was he doing here? Hadn't he been at home. His curiosity overcoming his apprehension at having to face his aniki again so soon, he stopped the car a little past the other and got out. As he turned to close the door, he spied Gene's castor gun in the back seat. How... he wondered, then remembered that he had been working on it. He had been too busy to remember to give it back, and picked it up now. Maybe he could use it as a sort of a peace offering. He smirked inwardly. Right. A gun as a peace offering. He picked it up and buckled the holster to his belt, then set off across the field to find Gene.  
  
When he was halfway across the field, he thought he saw movement not far from a river, between that and an old stone building. He couldn't tell very well what it might be, as it was obscured by the growing darkness, but it seemed rapid. He decided to play it safe and moved into the cover of the sparse trees as he approached. As he did so, he was startled to hear shots, then a pause and a distant clang.  
  
With a jolt he remembered where he had found the directions. He ran.  
  
====  
  
For a moment, Gene's confidence returned almost full-force.  
  
"Stupid bitch. You really aren't worth that much." Anger mingled with his smugness as he turned and hastened towards the trees to retrieve his weapon.  
  
Nikita's bowed head looked up slowly as she panted, and her eyes were narrowed as she glared at Gene's back. She would not be shamed this way. She was so much better than him. She straightened, and the tip cut the earth as she charged him, she yelled as she drew the sword back and stabbed at him. He whirled around, eyes wide, and dodged not quite fast enough to avoid a deep cut in his left arm. She sliced again, one-handed, swinging the blade almost erratically at Gene, but he knocked it away from him with his knife once more. Unexpectedly, as Gene's kick had been, she swung the back of her fist against the side of his head, knocking him back and almost to the ground as he reeled dizzily. As he looked down through a haze, moving back and away from Nikita's snakelike katana, he spotted his gun, he ducked down and reached for it, but flame-hued woman had seized her chance. As he bent down to grab his gun, she jumped forward, planting her feet upon his shoulders and forcing him down to the ground with this totally unexpected move. His weapon was out of reach and his head was still murky with the blow, and Nikita was raising her sword, a sneer terrifyingly distorting her almost elven features.  
  
A terrible shot rang out, and Nikita stopped, shocked at the sudden wild pain in her side. Blood seeped through the pale fabric of her shirt, and only her stunned surprise kept the pain at bay. The shot had lit the air with a violet-hued fire, and the heat of the castor shell seared the right side of her body.  
  
It was hard to see in the dark, and Jim was only a fair shot. The shell had not even directly hit her, but had only grazed her with its bespelled aura. Jim had been knocked back, stunned and laying on his back. He groaned. He had never used a castor gun before, and had not anticipated the painful recoil. He felt fairly sure he had hit her, he had to have. Gene's panicked voice yanked him from his momentary daze. He had never before heard his aniki panic.  
  
"JIM! GET UP!" Almost immediately after her initial shock, Nikita's utter rage had destroyed every shred of her concentration on Gene. It had also overcome the pain in her bloodied side, and now, as time seemed to move excruciatingly slowly, she whirled and stampeded toward Jim, eyes bestially mad. He struggled to his feet, terrified, and there was no way that Gene could make it in time, though time seemed to stretch until it might break and cast the world into nothing.  
  
Jim raised the castor rifle again, fired desperately and managed to stay on his feet. Now that Nikita's full attention was on him, though, he could never hit her. She reached him, and Gene felt as if he were watching freeze frames from a horrible movie. His head whipped around as if in whiplash as he searched for his gun, and there it was as Nikita's first cut severed tendons and muscle. Jim's hand convulsed and the weapon dropped as blood sprayed out, his eyes were wide, desperately, terribly wide as Gene lunged for his gun, and his mind was screaming a monotone "NONONONO," because even after the worst fight they could have, he could never let Jim go like this.  
  
Nikita drew her sword back again, and as Jim tried to reach for his wound, to hold the spurting blood in, almost reached for it and turned just a fraction, but a fraction's difference can change the course of rivers. He was looking up at her, nothing more than a frightened little kid, but she had no pity in her fury. Gene's hand closed on the gun, dragged it toward him as he pulled himself up, moving like a leaden golem.  
  
The blade came, scenting life and hating it, wanting it, searching for it, and finding it. Nikita drove it forward while Gene was years way from stopping her, and it pierced skin. It pierced skin, slicing through flesh and bone and blood vessels. It fired into him, and Jim thought he might vomit, if not from pain, then from the realization that there was blade before him and blade behind him, and that he had been utterly impaled. The pain was fiery, like Nikita's hair and eyes, and he choked on the metal as it seemed she would never withdraw it. She did, and Jim did vomit, he vomited a sanguine mess of spit and blood as the sword slid back through his flesh. The force with which she had stabbed him had pushed him back towards the drop, and now it drew him forward, and as the tip of the weapon relinquished his flesh it drew a dark ribbon with it, crimson and curling like smoke in the air.  
  
Gene fired once, twice, and again. His aim was true, guided by desperation and fear, and she coughed wetly. She pitched forward, stumbling against Jim, and past him, and one last shot threw her into the river, polluting it with her blood. Now Jim fell, was on the ground watering the grasses with his own swiftly escaping blood. Gene ran toward him, and he was so afraid, so afraid to let Jim die after what he had done.  
  
It couldn't end like this.  
  
It couldn't.  
  
====  
  
A/N:   
  
o.O  
  
there is no excuse.  
i am a terrible, terrible person. 


End file.
